Music Spotlight – Favorite Music of 2013: Part 2

Drake – Hold On, We’re Going Home

Hold On, We’re Going Home is off of Drake’s third album Nothing Was the Same. Produced by Nineteen85 and Majid Jordan (who also features on the track), the song sizzles as a great upbeat pop crossover. It is the only song that solely features Drake singing and is also probably the most radio friendly, but it is just so catchy and inviting – you just want to get on the dance floor. Available for download: here

Ellie Goulding – Burn

Burn is off Ellie Goulding’s reissuing of her Halcyon album called Halcyon Days. It is produced by Greg Kurstin. Like all of Goulding’s work, the song succeeds on the strength and uniqueness of her voice. It also features an uplifting message of strength and empowerment when a lot of today’s pop music is just generic nonsense. Available for download: here

Haim – The Wire

The Wire is off Haim’s fantastic debut album Days Are Gone. It is produced by the Haim Sisters and Ariel Rechtshaid. The song capitalizes on the energy and vocal talent of all three sisters (who each have sections of the song, though Danielle is the lead), perfectly balancing both rock and pop ambitions. The track rocks, has an interesting narrative, and is (like the best pop songs) very catchy. Available for download: here

J. Cole – Power Trip

Power Trip, featuring Miguel and produced by J. Cole, is off Cole’s second studio album Born Sinner. It has a raw energy, maybe even bordering on angry. Cole definitely wants to prove that he belongs among the best in hip hop, and Power Trip is does that as one of the year’s best tracks in the genre. Miguel’s part is also really good, elevating the hook. Fans can continue to expect great things from Cole. Available for download: here

John Legend – We Loved It

We Loved It is a bonus track off of John Legend’s Love in the Future. Featuring Seal, it is produced by Kanye West and Jeff Bhasker. With Love in the Future, Legend set out to make a new kind of R&B album. This song accomplishes that. It is compellingly dark, yet soulful. Legend and Seal’s voices accompany each other very well (Seal especially invites the listener into the darkness). West and Bhasker’s beat features a great complexity and grandness, though also held back – as if one were looking at a faded masterpiece painting. Available for download: here

Haim – Days Are Gone (2013) – Review

Review: Los Angeles indie pop/rock group Haim, made up of the three Haim Sisters (Danielle, Alana, and Este), have arrived with their debut album Days Are Gone, following up on their strong EP Forever from last year.

Days Are Gone is solid musically throughout, mixing a fun pop/rock style with a modern sonic sensibility, though void of synths and other EDM-influenced instrumentation, which is refreshing for once. This at its heart it is a light rock album that feels very fun-loving. And, as a pop/rock album, most of the songs are about failed relationships, and thus is on some level very relatable. While the lyrics seems to find the Haim Sisters in the throes of breakups and lost love (usually featuring them as the heartbreaker), the music itself is very bright and energetic, maybe even infectious.

The Haim Sisters work with a few producers including Ariel Rechtshaid (indie pop), Ludwig Goransson (Childish Gambino’s producing partner on Camp and the composer of the music on a few TV series including Community), and James Ford (British indie pop/rock) as well as songwriters Jessie Ware and Kid Harpoon on the album, giving it a varied makeup that works very well in keeping things feeling fresh from track to track. However, even with the varied producers and song styles, Haim retains their sound throughout, which has a very late-1980s feel (like a lot of today’s pop music), and thus their album seems to arrive perfectly positioned for a listener base poised to consume it.

The Haim sisters have all been recording and from a young age, growing up in a musical family (their parents are musicians as well). Thus, Days Are Gone could have merely been the lifeless output of seasoned studio musicians (who have already run the mainstream gauntlet as teens with the group the Valli Girls). As is, the album is a sassy, enthusiastic joy to listen to.

Days Are Gone is well worth checking out for fans of pop/rock, as it fits today’s musical trend while still feeling light and fresh. 4/5

Essential Tracks:

1)      Falling – Produced by Ariel Rechtshaid and the Haim Sisters

2)      The Wire – Produced by Ariel Rechtshaid and the Haim Sisters

3)      Days Are Gone – Produced by Ariel Rechtshaid and the Haim Sisters

Available on: Digital Download

Kid Cudi – Indicud (2013) – Review

Review: Indicud is Kid Cudi’s third album (unless you also count his WZRD collaboration with Dot da Genius), and the first outside his Man on the Moon Trilogy (the final chapter due next year).

While Mescudi sticks to his familiar lyrical themes – isolation, drug use, depression, yet with a sense of confidence – with Indicud he tackles all the production (though Hit-Boy does co-produce Red Eye). This is both something that works really well about the album and one of its main issues. Mescudi has always had a very specific and unique sound for his albums (like a darker version of EDM), but it is his collaboration with producers such as Emile, Dot da Genius, Ratatat, Plain Pat, Jeff Bhasker, and Kanye West that helped shape a full cohesive sound (and is really a big part of the brilliance of his first two albums). On Indicud there is a very uniform tone and feel, which comes from Kid Cudi being the sole creative force behind the beats, but this also kind of hurts the album as it drifts into a repetitive (if not boring) zone during the weaker songs. His production varies from track to track. Sometimes it is good to great: Unfuckwittable, Just What I Am, Young Lady (which has a fantastic hook), Immortal, Girls (though, I am not a big fan of Too $hort’s misogynistic-feeling verse), Red Eye, Brothers, Cold Blooded, and Afterwards. While on others, his beats just feel too bland. He is missing the collaborative spark of working with other producers.

The album has a number of strong featured guests: Kendrick Lamar, Haim, RZA, A$AP Rocky, and Michael Bolton all add something to their respective tracks. King Chip is on three tracks, but he never stands out. Michael Bolton’s feature in particular seems to come out of nowhere and feels a bit off when his voice first appears on Afterwards, but then it completely takes over the whole track and is the most memorial aspect on the song. RZA and Kendrick Lamar elevate their tracks considerably, while Haim makes for a great (if not seemingly random) collaboration.

I am torn about Indicud. I like it (that said, though, I would say it is not as strong as Man on the Moon: The End of Day or Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager), and more specifically I like a lot of the tracks, features, and the general vibe of the album. But, it also feels a little tedious to listen to all the way through, which stems from Kid Cudi not quite having enough good beats to fill fifteen tracks and three interludes.

Kid Cuid fans will enjoy the LP, and the good elements on the album get better with time. But again, it is just a step below his past work (but better than WZRD). 3/5

Essential Tracks:

1)      Brothers – Produced by Kid Cudi, featuring King Chip and A$AP Rocky

2)      Immortal – Produced by Kid Cudi

3)      Just What I Am – Produced by Kid Cudi, featuring King Chip

Available for download: Here